10 Interesting Facts about Kandy - Ten Fascinating Things Every Visitor Should Know about Hill Capital Kandy

Although many are aware of the ancient temples and the UNESCO Heritage Sites located within the city of Kandy, few tourists know that the city of Kandy in its totality was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site as early as 1988.

As the main reason why most tourists head to Kandy in the first place, the cool climate and weather in Kandy are due to its high elevation and mountainous terrain. Surrounded by dense forests, Kandy is one of the greenest cities in Sri Lanka.

Occupying pride of place in the heart of Sri Lanka, Kandy is both the religious and administrative capital of the island's Central Province.

Kandy sits on a plateau surrounded by hills and is thus one of the country's best-known tea plantation hubs. The large number of tea plantations and factories in the area are an indication of this proud heritage, which was established by British colonisers who introduced tea to the country and set up the vast estates that remain in operation even today.

According to historical texts and archaeologists, the Kandyan Kingdom was first founded between 1357 and 1374 AD by King Vikramabahu III. Visitors based at Hunas Falls Hotel Kandy or any similar resort in Kandy will have access to some of the ancient ruins and temples from the golden era of the Kandyan Kingdom.

There's a reason why most travellers based in Colombo enjoy a day trip to Kandy and why residents of Kandy often head to Colombo for the weekend. As the second-largest city in the country, Kandy is only surpassed by Colombo in terms of its cosmopolitan identity and size.

Kandy is the famous home of the dental remains of Lord Buddha, which were brought to the island centuries ago by a religious envoy. The tooth relic is now contained in a former Kandyan Palace which has since been dubbed the Temple of the Tooth. The venue is not only one of the most visited temples in the country but one of the Buddhist world's most sacred attractions.

Before it became an independent kingdom, Kandy was strangely an annexe of the Kingdom of Kotte, which lies in the Western Province.

Kandy will also be forever associated with the end of the monarchy in Sri Lanka as the Kandyan Kingdom was the last to fall to the British colonisers. King Sri Wickrama Rajasighe was the last ruler of Kandy and Sri Lanka as a whole.

As a red-letter event in the religious calendar of the island, the Kandyan Perahera, which takes place in July or August each year, is a grand procession connected with the Temple of the Tooth and the four Hindu temples that are considered its guardians.